


She Shook Me Cold

by xspike4evax



Series: Song Titles Series [7]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 04:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5898883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xspike4evax/pseuds/xspike4evax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was meant to be a rite of passage bonding moment between them, but Buffy was more like a dooms day machine!</p><p>Artist: David Bowie</p>
            </blockquote>





	She Shook Me Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the David Bowie song title/lyrics prompt at giles_shorts  
> Also want to give a little shout out to Snyder who inspired this story after his comment in Band Candy "Whoa Summers, you drive like a spaz"

He had been so proud when Buffy had come to him and asked him for this favour. It was a father/daughter moment and she had looked to him in the absence of her own father. Giles had to admit he had been as excited as Buffy, but he felt he had hidden it better. She was bouncy, bright eyed, eager; and her enthusiasm had been infectious. Giles had wanted to enjoy the experience and had wanted the same for Buffy. 

“I really appreciate this, Giles!” 

She had been so happy. He had seen the teenage girl rather than the Slayer and it had been a good feeling. It was fitting they shared this together, after all, as her Watcher, her mentor and her friend he had been there with her for so many of her milestone moments; Slaying the Master, returning from death, heartache over the loss of her one true love, Angel’s return, that moment they thought they had lost Willow; and now this. It was a rite of passage and Giles had been honoured to be a part of it. He might never get this moment with a child of his own and Buffy was as good as his own daughter anyway. 

The excitement and pleasure at being included in this momentous occasion evaporated almost instantly and Giles was left fearing for his life at the hands of his very own Slayer. Give Buffy Summers a stake or a sword and she was second to none, her skill perfection. Put her behind the wheel of a car and she became as incompetent as Wesley Wyndam Price. 

The engine of his little car roared ferociously to life, growling and spitting like a trapped beast until Buffy realised she hadn’t released the hand brake. They shot forward so quickly Giles felt as though the car has just been released from a catapult and Buffy slammed on the breaks with such force the car jerked to a stop leaving Giles wondering how in the world he had managed to avoid whiplash. 

Buffy turned to him and smiled gaily, undaunted. “Ooops. My bad.” 

He smiled back, not wanting to discourage her from trying again. Just little teething problems; she was probably nervous. It was understandable. 

She tried again, the car did that odd stop, start, jerking thing where it looked like it had the hiccups and couldn’t get going, but under his patience guidance Buffy managed to smooth things out. Giles rather wished she hadn’t. What followed was the rollercoaster ride from hell. 

Like a coiled spring the car leapt forward. Under her hands it became a bat out of hell, and that was saying something for such a small engine. Buffy flew down the road, taking the turns too sharply, throwing him up against the window. 

“Buffy, you need to slow down!” 

“Got it.” 

She didn’t get it. Instead of easing up on the accelerator she slammed on the brake, the tyres squealed loudly and the car screeched to a halt. It gave a judder as she took her foot off the pedal and stalled. 

“Huh?” Buffy peered down at her feet. 

“You um, you lost your revs,” Giles said, wetting his lips. “Take it out of gear a...a...and....” 

“Try again.” 

That was not what he had been going to say. But somehow Giles found he couldn’t tell her to get the hell out of the driver’s seat and let him take over. She was still new at this and she needed encouragement. He didn’t want to spoil it for her. 

He had heard of the saying “my life flashed before my eyes”, hadn’t everyone. But it was just a saying, it wasn’t something that actually happened. 

Except that it really, really was! 

Buffy got herself started again and Giles gripped hold of the door handle with a clammy hand as she pulled off. She went along quite well at first, if a little fast, and then she clipped the curb. The car bounced like a ping pong ball before Buffy managed to get it under control. 

Buffy, he knew, wasn’t a fan of math class and now Giles understood why. She had no sense of distance and measurement whatsoever. There were cars parked on the left and a van came towards them on the right; Buffy didn’t even hesitate, she ploughed on. Giles winced, his eyes closing as the cars closed in on one side and the van on the other. How his wing mirrors remained intact Giles honestly couldn’t say. 

Finally they made it back to the school parking lot. A lamppost loomed ahead of them and Buffy swerved, the car rocking slightly. 

“Whoa, that came out of nowhere.” 

It really hadn’t, but Giles couldn’t find his voice as Buffy attempted to park. The car went wide as she swung it into the space, straddling the white lines, the front wheels bumping against the curb. 

Giles pitched forward, a breath escaping when he fell back into the seat. He didn’t release his grip on the door handle until Buffy cut the engine. She turned to him expectantly, obviously eager to please. 

“How’d I do?” 

Giles cleared his throat and wet his lips again before speaking. “No... um... no accidents, so that’s good. Maybe um, ease into the turns a little more.” 

“I can totally do that.” Buffy wiggled happily. “You think I’ll do okay in driving ed?” 

“I’m sure you’ll be fine with a proper instructor.” Giles could only hope so. It did little good to have a Slayer to protect the town’s people at night if she bowled them over during the day. She was like some sort of dooms day machine! 

“This was so cool, Giles! Thanks for taking me out and you know, for not yelling and stuff. Maybe we could do it again tomorrow?” 

Giles paled, his stomach flopping and he went cold at the very idea. “I.. . um, I may be busy tomorrow.” A sudden malicious thought crossed his mind. “Maybe Wesley could take you?”


End file.
